Professional-grade GOES satellite imagery with radar, lightning, model data, and severe weather overlays — updated continuously and accessible from any browser.
The GOES Satellite Viewer gives you direct access to imagery from NOAA's GOES-19 (East) and GOES-18 (West) geostationary satellites. The system downloads raw satellite data from AWS, processes all 16 ABI spectral channels, generates scientifically-accurate RGB composites, and layers on real-time weather data — all automatically, around the clock.
This is the same data meteorologists use for forecasting, storm chasing preparation, and situational awareness. No accounts, no ads, no compromises on resolution.
All 16 ABI channels from GOES-East and GOES-West, plus 15 RGB composite products including GeoColor, Airmass, Dust, Sandwich, Fire Temperature, Cloud Microphysics, and more. Covers CONUS, Full Disk, and both Mesoscale sectors.
NWS tornado/severe thunderstorm/flood warnings, SPC convective outlooks and mesoscale discussions, WPC excessive rainfall outlooks and MPDs, ProbSevere storm probabilities — all rendered directly on the satellite imagery.
MRMS multi-radar composite reflectivity, rotation tracks, hail indicators (MESH), flash flood products, and precipitation estimates. GLM lightning flash density, flash points, and optical energy from the satellite's own lightning mapper.
RTMA surface analysis (temperature, dewpoint, pressure, winds). RAP model upper-air data at 925, 850, 700, 500, and 300 mb. METAR station plots with wind barbs and standard meteorological symbology.
Imagery is generated for over 100 geographic regions, ranging from full-hemisphere views down to individual-state crops. Here's a summary of what's available:
| Domain | Resolution | Update Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| CONUS | 5424 × 5424 native | Every 5 minutes |
| Full Disk | 10848 × 10848 native | Every 10 minutes |
| Mesoscale 1 & 2 | 2000 × 2000 native | Every 1 minute |
Regions include the full CONUS, large sub-regions (West, Central, East), medium areas (Northwest, Great Lakes, Southeast, etc.), individual states, offshore zones (Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of America, East Pacific), Alaska, Hawaii, Canadian provinces, South American regions, and full-hemisphere projections.
Each product is generated from specific combinations of the 16 ABI spectral channels and, in some cases, external data like nightlights and land masks.
| Product | Primary Use |
|---|---|
| GeoColor | Natural-looking day/night imagery. Visible by day, IR with city lights by night. |
| Airmass | Jet streams, frontal boundaries, upper-level troughs/ridges. |
| Sandwich | IR cloud-top temps with visible texture baked in. Excellent for convection. |
| Split Window | Moisture and cloud-top height via 10.3/12.3 µm difference. |
| Dust | Dust and volcanic aerosol detection over land and ocean. |
| Fire Temperature | Active fire detection using shortwave IR channels. |
| Cloud Microphysics | Ice vs. water cloud phase, particle size, and optical depth. |
| Day Land Cloud Fire | Natural color with enhanced fire detection (daytime only). |
| Snow/Fog | 24-hour fog and low stratus detection; daytime snow/fog discrimination. |
| True Color | Simple visible-band RGB approximation. |
| Day Cloud Phase | Cloud thermodynamic phase (liquid, ice, mixed) — daytime only. |
| Volcanic Ash | Volcanic ash cloud detection and tracking. |
| Night Microphysics | Nighttime fog, low clouds, and cloud-top microphysics. |
| Water Vapor | Upper-tropospheric moisture at 6.2 µm. |
| Differential WV | 6.2 vs. 7.3 µm WV difference — highlights jet streaks and dry intrusions. |
| Overlay | Source | Products |
|---|---|---|
| GLM Lightning | GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper via AWS | Flash density, flash points, optical energy, flash area |
| NWS Warnings | NWS via Iowa Environmental Mesonet | Tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood warnings |
| MRMS Radar | NOAA Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor via AWS | Composite reflectivity, rotation tracks (30 min–24 hr), MESH hail, flash flood streamflow, QPE, lightning probability, VIL, echo tops, precipitation rate/accumulation |
| ProbSevere | NOAA/CIMSS ProbSevere v3 | Overall severe probability, tornado probability, hail probability, wind probability |
| SPC Products | Storm Prediction Center | Day 1–8 convective outlooks (categorical + probabilistic tornado/wind/hail), mesoscale discussions |
| WPC Products | Weather Prediction Center | Excessive rainfall outlook (Day 1–3), mesoscale precipitation discussions |
| METAR Plots | Aviation Weather Center | Surface observations with wind barbs, temperature, dewpoint, pressure, sky cover |
| RTMA | NOAA Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis via AWS | 2m temperature, 2m dewpoint, surface pressure, 10m wind barbs (CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii grids) |
| RAP Model | Rapid Refresh via AWS | Temperature, geopotential height, relative humidity, wind barbs, omega, CAPE, CIN, precipitable water — at 925, 850, 700, 500, 300 mb |
The backend runs on a Linux server that continuously downloads raw GOES ABI Level 1b data from NOAA's public AWS buckets. Each processing cycle:
The web viewer loads these pre-rendered images. No heavy processing happens in your browser — it's fast on any device.
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